Breaking Blood
by KroganThrashballer83
Summary: A modern AU where Elsa has been transformed into an entirely new breed of vampire. She uses this to her advantage to become the youngest and most successful CEO in Arendelle. It has been 13 years since the sisters have seen each other and Anna is determined to make things right. Sinister forces lurking in the shadows however as Anna uncovers more than just one dirty secret.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Howdy guys. If any of you have found this from my original posting on Devinat Art, thank you. Any who are new; this is my sort of submission for the Frozen Fandom. As I said on the original posting, I wasn't even sure I wanted to post or even write this. I have 1 abandoned and 1 dead fic. The difference being, I still have ideas for 'Angel and The Cat', with lost interest in the source material. And my pokemon fic, which was supposed to be a group colab with friends, fell through as nobody else was really wanting to write or come up with anything. That said, I starting liking the idea more and more and got more attached to the story. I. WILL. NOT. ABANDON THIS ONE. I am actually asking for a Beta, if anyone is interested. The inspiration for this came for my adoring love for the movie and its two loveable, mental dorks, and 'The Strain'. I love the new portrayal of Vampires in Del Toro's novels and spent a good week coming up with something I believe is just as great.  
Having said that, this is an AU, set in modern time. Later on will have gratuitous, but necessary amounts of gore and, yes, this is an ElsAnna Incest story. If you are interested in the story, but can't read through the incest, yes there will be sexual content/sex, I will have a warning on the chapter.  
This was a lot longer than I intended, but hey, shit happens. lol All that said, read, review and enjoy. Thank you for your time.

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She could almost sense the knocking before the reverberating hollow thuds rang through the empty manor. The once quiet room, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous books, ranging from old war field tactics from battles long since won or lost and modern war memoirs, recounting the horrors of those who dove head first into the mouth of Hell and the recounting of the economical figure heads who would no doubt attempt justifying their actions to business and corporate related contents. 'The Wolf of Wall Street' lay open on a pedestal, a paper with hastily scribbled notes sat crumpled next to it. Papers and pens strewn about in a manner almost befit of a caged animal, lashing out at the things once bringing comfort.  
Or in her case, a distraction. Now no longer the case.  
A new sound began penetrating the dark, stale air. If someone were to pass by, it could have been mistaken easily as scratching. Perhaps not so unlike fingers scratching across fresh wood, as was often the case anyway. No, this was the sound of hunger.  
A predatory, obsession.  
Sniffing.  
Tentatively at first, a curious step as her head inclined higher into the room, away from its original brooding position one often takes when there is much work to be done requiring said head to be constantly bent over. The knocking came again. Faster. The thudding came in quicker succession. As did the sniffing. Now it was unmistakable.  
The air that held no life, no warmth now felt thick with an abundance of an aroma. And something sweet. Not unlike fruit, but it was almost…_earthier_. The only word that could come to the woman's mind as all senses seemed to heighten and simultaneously dull.  
Her sense of smell becoming painstakingly clear.  
The lacquer of her desk becoming more potent as a sense of primal force overtook her. Her chair almost rank of poison as she fixated on this heavenly scent wafting in tiny slivers amongst the suffocation of the room. Her heart beat faster, almost crushing her ribcage in anticipation. The blood pumping through her veins turned coarse, making her visibly twitch with every delayed pump.  
She was up now.  
Standing fully erect in the office, she swatted a globe across the room, where it crashed to the wall before settling against a bookcase after several sad rotations along the floor. She could sense regret wanting to build within her, but she was too focused.  
Consumed.  
Obsessed.  
When there came a light tapping at her chamber door, she had to almost choke down a feral noise of disgust when a servant began questioning the noise. "It's FINE!"  
She turned, the door still closed, but still feeling shame at having snapped the way she did.  
"It's…IT'S NOTH-nothing." She was breathing heavy, her voice weaker and filled with restraint.  
Sharper and higher.  
Luckily the staff had been handpicked from previous generations of servitude and knew well enough to leave their Master or Mistress to their own. SO when a reply concerning the globe simply fell from its case when she was using it, he excused himself by way of remarking about their unplanned, late night visitor. Most of the staff had turned in or left for the night, not returning until their early shift the next day around 7. It was only 11.  
It seemed that as he left, so did any sense of inhibition and restraint as she had immediately thrown open the back window, after some difficulty in opening the carefully crafted and steadfast curtains.  
The window had been remade particularly for her and she took advantage of every advantage it gave her as the bitter cold of the night met and kissed her face and skin. Taking one steady breath, she nearly moaned in ecstasy, enjoying the shivering that spread through her sinuses, reverberating through her spine and almost seemed to settle in between her thighs, meeting with the already tingling warmth that had started there already.  
Closing her eyes, she discarded her heavy, top layer of clothing, first to go was her Peacoat. It was a solid navy blue in men's size. It crumpled beneath the window. Her button-up undershirt was carelessly tossed into the room as well, its destination unknown and uncared for.  
A smile cracked her otherwise stoic face. With a crack of her neck, her large, singular braid of platinum blonde hair came careening from its braided nest she normally wore it in. It cascaded down her shoulder and brushed against the frost blue of her sports bra she currently sported as her only clothing above the waist.

The Night was hers.  
Free.  
Free to feel.  
And free to feed.

Normally, she would just lose herself in the miasma of the city.  
Intoxicating as it was enticing.  
She would wander for hours, though it would only take moments before some parasite would fling themselves onto her, practically begging to be rid of their mortal suffering. And she was always more than willing to oblige.  
Tossing her heels through the window without a backwards glance, her eyes shot open as she simply stepped off the curved slopes of her mansion. Eyes glowing sickening yellow, her pupils fully dilated, they burned with such intensity rivaling the burning of the sun and the blackness of the Void itself.  
God help the person who saw into these eyes.  
But she knew God was dead for anyone she set these eyes upon.  
And for her late night intruder, the raven that rapped on her chamber door, they would be 'Nevermore'. A small smile at the pun she made. Knowing nothing at how profuse the metaphor would come to be.  
Quietly she melted into the shadows, the tree branch she landed on, not even so much as creaking as her bare feet landed squarely, followed by her hands as she hunched in the foliage. The scent was absolutely riveting by this point. Both her arousal and hunger piqued by this point.  
Both the blood and perfume alerted the intruder as a female. A wetness began seeping into her panties. An old fashioned 'Screw 'n Chew' was LONG overdue. She silently cursed her insistence of work coming before her desires.  
Tensing herself, she slipped from the branch and landed with absolute perfection once more on the ground, just out of sight. She had instructed her night staff, mostly consisting of just Kai and Gerda, to ignore any summonings of the door at any and all times. Any intruders were to be _dealt with personally._  
The woman was pouting now, as her scent was suggesting, what? A type of aggravation?  
And sadness? Disappointment? Was this 'thing' so eager to meet its end?  
She had to keep from laughing at her own assessment, though a very toothy grin plastered itself on her lips, revealing incredibly long and twisted canines. Her smile quickly faltered however.  
There was a…what? A something. Tingling on her skin.  
A quick observation revealed nothing to be on her almost porcelain skin.  
_What then_?  
The feeling began creeping further through her body, an army of insects marching along her nerves, pinching and spreading fire along her entire being.  
Her blood.  
Her blood was tingling?  
Why?  
She was hesitant now.  
More aggressive sniffing and the feeling actually seemed to worsen!  
Her blood was crawling, alive and burning under her skin. Demanding. A river of tantrum pumping through her. Her breathing became slightly raged as she brought her hands to her chest. Her heart was beating faster now. Hungrily spreading the fire. Enough was enough. She had drawn out the kill far too long and demanded satisfaction.  
_That was it_. She told herself.  
Stepping lively, spurred by this livid sensation, she rounded the corner, readied a hand to 'introduce' herself and froze.  
Everything just froze then.  
Time itself seeming to have chosen this moment to rot away unnoticed.  
_It can't…_  
She struggled. Her head was in enormous pain. Her confidence gone as frightening uncertainty consumed what was left of her fringed sense of self. The hunt was gone. Now only the deep need to run filling its spot.  
Though the intruder's back was turned, her shoulders slumped as she seemed to be scrunched into herself, head leaning against the door in tired resignation of it opening, she could see her hair. Strawberry blonde. The beautiful head of red she had come to love nuzzling against when she was younger, a time long ago.  
_A little girl long since dead_.  
It had to be a mistake! She was pleading by this point. Maybe…  
"Hey! Elsa!"  
Eyes going wide as dinner plates, Elsa stiffened. Stopped dead like a deer in the headlights of oncoming traffic. For a second, she considered testing her questionable immortality and jump headfirst into the next car that crossed her vision. Fate was working against her as her mansion placement was far removed from any highways.  
She could barely make out the hidden shape of the car Anna had driv-_NO_! She nearly shouted out, the word almost ghosting on her lips. She refused to allow the thought to fully birth, crushing it under her proverbial heel.  
She noticed the girl kept talking, though the profuse pounding of her ears and the screaming of her blood had long ceased any noise as she stared idly, half in shadows, half in the still burning light of the front door light.  
For once, in 13 long years, Elsa could admit, not out loud mind you, she was genuinely frightened. A war was ravaging her mind, split between every part of her that demanded everything at once.  
A battle she was losing in every aspect.  
Every voice entombed in her conscience mind began screaming at her, every word like a razor blade slicing through her being.  
Her jaw clenched, twitching with every word left unsaid, every scream dying before leaping from her throat. Her chest was heaving much more now. Actually short on breath rather than anticipating a hunt.

She never would have thought a heart attack could have been possible, but everything she ever knew was coming into question on this night.

So enthralled was she, she never heard the gasp, or the shout of joy her not-sister let out. She did however feel the almost bone breaking hug and sudden warmth across her breasts and bare stomach. Her head was almost snapped off when her not-sister closed her arms around the back of her neck and pulled tightly. The war in Elsa's mind stopped on all fronts as the unmistakable smell of her sister consumed every sense of her being.  
She gulped; her blood seemed to settle, though it still burned her slightly.  
She needed to find out why. Soon.  
Still not fully snapped to her senses, she almost jumped when she felt small tremors rack her body. The slightest of nods and she was met with a face full of delicious red hair. Panic still ran through her as she became the slightest bit aware of her sister crying into her bare shoulder.  
Anna was crying into her shoulder.  
And she didn't even know she was going to be killed.

She woke up tucked into a cocoon of blankets on her bed.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Howdy. First, I just want to thank every freakin' one of you guys who followed and/or favorited this. I love you all. Apologies for the delay of time between posting this. (Viral enterprising is incredibly stressful, time consuming and I will hunt down anyone who says otherwise.) JK. *cough*noi'mnot*cough* Second, I want to thank GhostofWintersPast for being my Beta. (And for being incredibly patient with my blunders. ^_^; I swear none of them were on purpose. Formatting between Word and the FF editor is screwed up on my computer, and promise to be more keen on my editing.)

I own nothing of Frozen. If I did, I believe a few changes would have been made. Say no more, say no more. Eh, Gov. Eh, eh.

Oh, don't give me that look. They got away with it in the Lion King and Nemo!

The next couple of chapters will be a bit slower, but bear with me. They have their purpose. So, all that said, enjoy!

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2 days previous…

The mall was a hornet's nest of various activities. A bustling hive of single minded drones swarming in desperate masses, each with a task to be fulfilled, caring not for the thousands of others carrying about on their own accords.

A fight had broken out in an electronics store, situated just a few steps from the table Anna and her friends currently occupied. A few seconds after the fighting started, she absentmindedly started stirring her drink, the icy concoction barely palatable anymore. Her sole focus was the tiny piece of paper, currently folded and tucked away in her fist.

She still held some guilt over the way she snatched the paper from her cousin earlier that morning but what she saw in the personal ads was too much to simply ignore, let alone keep her composure as she scrambled for the unread section. Rapunzel was understandably upset and was more so when Anna refused to acknowledge any questions that were sent her way. Now however, the questioning was three times more, as well as the aggravation.

She was sure there was shouting during the escalating scuffle, especially as two overweight security guards huffed their way across the expanse of the food court; although it was only maybe 30 feet, the look of exhaustion on their faces humorously reflected Anna's inner struggle all too well. But the world had been completely tuned out. Silence was her reward. Albeit a silence born from self-loathing, confusion and sheer joy eliciting a bubbling roar of frenzied mental activity. But for now, she could be the only living thing in the world at this moment.

The fighting had brought a nice reprieve from her best friends' constant pestering regarding the object in her hand, but it was to be short lived as her cousin was the first to break away and swing her chair back around, grating against the tile of the mall floor.

The small metallic chirp elicited winces from several, and caused a few elderly onlookers, so caught up in the act of youthful chaos, to physically leap from their seats. A small, almost unnoticed twitch of Anna's left cheek hinted of an awkward grimace, her face still unreadable as a storm of thoughts raged, unnoticed, within her.

The blonde girl looked over to the other occupants, a sheepish grin on her face as she rubbed the back of her head nervously, murmuring a muttered "Sorry…", before rounding back once more on her red haired cousin.

"Alright. Spill!" She commanded, flipping the right side of her incredibly long hair out of her face as she collapsed back into her original sitting position. Her arms were crossed as she locked eyes with Anna's, deep intensity reflecting her own nervousness.

Merida quickly turned in her seat as well, the untamed nest of her hair smacking Mulan in the mouth, her interest in watching the two men being hauled away quickly forgotten as their broken conversation resumed once more.

"Dammit. You need to watch that thing." Mulan cursed as a few locks of red hair brushed along her lips. Her seat groaned softly as she inched it away, spitting and working her jaw, trying her best to remove the hairs from her lips.

Anna began shrinking in her own chair, the drink she had been stirring earlier since forgotten. Pulling her arms across her chest, she began pinching at the ends of her sleeves, the green of her shirt and the red of her face somehow causing her to be some kind of personification of Christmas. Or a mutant tomato. Her eyes fixated on her kneading fist as Mulan fixed her own gaze on Anna, wiping her mouth with the back of her long sleeve, her earlier battle proving fruitless at removing the foreign hairs.

Merida let out a chuckle, quickly covering her mouth after seeing Rapunzel's unamused scowl. "Yeah, you've been seriously quiet and just sort of…staring at your fist. Like that!" She gestured her right hand at Anna, removing it from her mouth after regaining her composure. Merida's words were heavily slurred by her Scottish accent, but Rapunzel had been the one to help her with grammar when she first moved to Arendelle. "Keeping to yourself all day! What's the matter with ya? You act like you'd seen a ghost or something when you grabbed that newspaper!" She was halfway leaning on the table, their faces inches apart. If Anna could have one wish, it would have been to physically shrink down to how small she felt then. Merida's eyes were soft and filled with concern, but her tone was harsh, and Anna could barely blame her. She knew she had been worrying her friends, but there was no way she could bring up what she had planned. Rapunzel would deeply resent the idea, and she didn't want to drag more people, Merida and Mulan especially, into her family fallout.

Few times earlier she had gained the courage to say something, but it would falter and she was left with inaudible squeaks. The rest of the day had been spent not talking. Very unlike her. "And that was like, what? Three hours ago?!" Merida was still talking, even as Anna drifted in and out of focus. Another trait unlike her "You were your normal, chipper self then, but now-"

"Hey! Give that back!" Anna shouted over Merida. In Anna's stupor Rapunzel had marched to Anna's side and pried her fist open, making Anna shriek and jump inches in her seat, sending the folded paper tumbling across the table. "I'm *nng* sorry!" Rapunzel shouted, grunting as she snatched the piece of paper.

Five minutes of shouting and hands smacking from her cousin resulted in them being kicked from their table and the three girls converging on their sulking fourth in a semi-circle as she sat on a bench, staring at the few small scraps of paper that once brought her guilty solace.

Rapunzel held another piece in her fingers, reading the remaining words out loud, Mulan and Merida sharing aggravated glances back and forth. "What is the big deal with this thing, and what the HELL has gotten into you? 'Live in-' I can't read the rest of this one. Looks like I have most of the bottom though." She shuffled the piece of paper clipping in her hand, squinting at each word.

She felt bad having to do this, but she had enough worries draining her already. Anna was not something she wanted added to that list. "'For further information or if you wish to enquire, call Elsa Anderson...'" Her eyes bulged intensely as her head snapped up, something dark shading her face. "Anna ANDERSON! Please tell me this isn't serious! You can't be-" She stopped, sighing.

Mulan masked her concern as best as she could; luckily the only person that would have been suspicious was now staring intently at the ground.

Merida was genuinely confused. She passed the paper to Mulan, her face holding the same dark shade Rapunzel's had. "Dammit... You know I'm just looking out for you, right?" Rapunzel knelt and placed a hand on Anna's shoulder.

Anna was staring at the floor, but the trembling of her shoulders alerted Rapunzel to how close she was to breaking down. Saying nothing more, she took Anna's hand into her own and took the vacant seat next to her.

"Anna, sweetie," Mulan awkwardly cooed, never one to be good with words. She took a seat next to the other two, an awkward silence settling between them.

Merida was the first to break it. "Is somebody going to explain what the blazes is going on with the poor lass? All day she was bubbly, chattering like birds with some bread! Just who is this 'Elsa' person anyway?! She a cousin of yours or something?"

"Merida… You don't understand. It's about-" Mulan hesitated as she leaned forward, surprised to find Anna clinging to her shoulder. She wasn't sure if she should be the one to speak up. Especially given how precious little she herself knew about the two sisters. "I want to understand! Help your poor cousin here!" Meredith pleaded gesturing wildly between Rapunzel and Anna. Rapunzel opened her mouth to reply before being cut off.

"It's about my sister!" Anna shouted, though her voice was muffled by Mulan's shoulder. Anna undid her embrace around Mulan as she slowly stood, sniffling.

Rapunzel's jaw screwed tight, too stunned by her cousin's sudden jump into the conversation. Her eyes were glazed with tears teetering on the edge of her lids, threatening to break any second.

"Look, it's a complicated history alright." Anna began, facing the fiery Ginger. Her tone was harsher than she wanted, but she refused to shed any more tears. _I've done that enough through my life. Crying for her now solves nothing. You're not a child._ She thought bitterly, her friends unaware of the self-degradation.

"Anna, don't. I'm just really worried what-" Rapunzel started, shifting as if to stand herself.

"NO!" The outburst sent Rapunzel flinching back a few inches.

The tears were gone and forlorn settled in. Mulan shifted uncomfortably in her green and blue Kimono, small wet spots barely tinting the fabric. Rapunzel had once mentioned to her, in secret mind you, how her cousins had a falling out when they were younger, but was adamant in excluding any context. All she knew was it had been 13 years since Anna had truly seen her sister, and somehow it was linked to their father and the company Elsa was CEO of.

Anna was standing a bit more rigid, though her shoulders were slumped in a defeated manner. Like she was still fighting with something inside but had already decided the victor. "I know this looks…bad. And I'm really sorry Merida." She began fidgeting with her hands, and everyone just watched her. They weren't sure how they should be reacting to their friend's new openness. At least it was better than the quiet, they all silently agreed.

"It's alright. Just…start from the beginning."

"Why do you have some sort of personal ad from your sister?"

Rocking back on forth on the heels of her shoes as she sighed. "I'm… wanting to take up the position she offered. It's for a live in maid and I sorta figured-"

"Anna, I'm going to stop you right there. And tell you how many different ways this is a bad idea." Rapunzel shot a finger up and stood beside Merida. "What do you need a job for? I thought you were pretty filthy rich? You know, what with your sister being CEO and such of your parents' company?"

"Yeah. You pretty much pay for everything we ever do." Merida and Mulan added.

Anna shot them both a look. "Just because I have a few cards to the company name, doesn't mean I want to be a part of the stupid thing! They're just some…"

"Parting gifts Elsa left for her. She sent them on her eighteenth birthday." Rapunzel finished. Merida was about to start again, but it was cut short by Rapunzel. "You drop contact with her 3 years ago, and you think cleaning her laundry will rekindle some kind of sisterly bond between you two?! A bond I remember already stressed in the faults when I was a kid? This won't end well. For EITHER of you!"

"Maybe she's hoping Elsa has a soft spot for maid outfits?" Merida had never been so uncomfortable in her life as all three sets of eyes glared at her. Gulping and smiling the same sheepish way Rapunzel had earlier, she took to being silent, playing with the curls of her hair in a nervous tick.

"I admit, I don't know much." Mulan steered the conversation back, sighing deeply first. "But from what I've been told, there seems to be some deep, I don't know, issues…between you two." She winced slightly, fully expecting backlash from either girls about how much she let on about her knowledge. Rather, she was taken aback when Anna spoke next.

"I never hated her. And I could never resent her for what she did for us." Her words barely ranged beyond a whisper. A haunting sorrow filling every syllable. "I just never forgave what happened to our parents. Or how she allowed almost the same thing happen to her." She gritted her teeth, slamming her eyes shut; she refused to let her tears fall.

Rapunzel was shocked by this insight as well.

Perking up at the chance for redemption, Merida tried her voice once more. "Could you let us in about what happened between the 2 of you? Please? At least the part about why you need to take a maid job just to say 'Hi' for crying out loud?"

"Which you STILL have yet to explain by the way." Removing the hair from her face, Rapunzel planted her hands on her hips and gave Anna a stern look. She had been…patient, to say in the least, up to this point. It was seeing her cousin so miserable that caused her to back off slightly; but stubborn and persistent was two traits she embraced well. And this was something too big to allow her cousin to simply shrug off and tackle by herself.

"I just wanted to get close to her again." Anna began. "She was always so busy, and since I told her, to…never talk to me again and hung up, I had no way of knowing where she lives. Plus with being CEO and such, I don't expect her to be so open to late night visitors. So, I figured if I took the job, and I get to stay there with her, I'd personally know her schedule so we could, maybe, work everything out again." She ended in what could have been taken as a question. The way she fidgeted with the hem of her pants and shrunk in place made it look as if she were awaiting approval.

Mulan sat, absolutely stunned. Yet, somehow she found herself completely unsurprised by Anna's…idea process. _If that's what she calls it_. She and Anna knew each other for only a year, after returning from her tour of duty in the military.

She and Rapunzel however, had been friends since sophomore and quickly warmed up to Anna, seeing how similar the two were. And now Mulan had a hard time imagining

what a moment without the spontaneous, redheaded spitfire would be like. It was all the more impossible to imagine somebody purposely hurting the younger girl and all the more foreign for her to be the one to inflict harm on someone else. Sure Anna could be a handful at times, one of those times being now, but Anna was always the moral support. Even going as far as disregarding her own emotional stress, just so she could help someone through their own; a complete stranger to boot.

Mulan herself was witness to this.

The fact Anna had acted _selfish_?, the word left a bad taste in Mulan's mind's mouth. That word could never be used to describe Anna. _Either Elsa really WAS the ice queen Rapunzel had described, or __she__ had one HELL of a good reason._

The conversation became all but dead to Mulan, so engrossed in her thoughts and wasn't prepared for Merida's sudden outburst.

Rapunzel snickered at Mulan's sudden jolt.

"Alright, so ya think you can repair whatever happened three years ago? What's the harm in that? Just go to her and make with the sisterly supporting already! You're all acting like somebody died or something…I said something wrong didn't I?" Her mouth twitched in apprehension when she noticed Anna's face pale. It was quick, but Merida knew exactly what she saw and guilt immediately began eating away at her.

But just like she always did, Anna bounced right back, though the bobbing in her throat was noticed by all. "Look, I know you guys are just watching out for me, and I really thank you guys, but this is the best, if not only, chance I might get. And Merida." It was Merida's turn to finally be on the receiving end of being surprised. "It's fine. You didn't know. And I can't be mad at Rapunzel for telling you, Mulan." Both Mulan and Rapunzel wore apologetic expressions coupled with guilt. Anna engulfed them both in tight hugs, relief flooding through them.

Though it should've come as no surprise at Anna's quick forgiveness. She released them, only to engulf Merida in one as well. The hug was easily returned twofold.

Though Anna seemed to be back to her excitable self, Rapunzel could tell there was a storm shadowing her. "Anna, I'm sorry I told Mulan. It's just…your guys' separation was hard on all of us. I really needed somebody to talk to."

Mulan began rocking her numb feet back and forth by this point. She only just became aware of how much time they had been talking about this for. "She only told me the basics, if it makes you feel any better. That you guys used to be close, but I guess something happened with your mom. Your dad took it hard but I never got the connection between that, you and Elsa."

"That was actually everything I was told. I mean, sure I went over there a few times over the summers, but every year, the two of them were farther and farther apart from each other." Rapunzel added.

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that. For all of that. And I never got to thank you for being there for me. For us. All those years." There were brief pauses as Anna struggled with every word, her eyes glazing over with renewed tears, a vacant emptiness taken over her usual spark. Dark memories poisoned with abandonment and depression stained with spilling red came crashing down, flattening the barriers she had built to suppress them.

"Tell ya what." Merida spoke up. "Don't bother with us, and just go home with your cousin."

"What?!" Mulan and Rapunzel immediately rounded on her, their shout high enough to cause an echo and attract more attention than what had been slowly building around them.

Merida quickly began explaining herself. Relief found itself breaking through Anna's features. "This is deep. Like REALLY deep. And to be honest, it's getting late. This is probably something better discussed between these two."

Mulan was confused, but Rapunzel couldn't help the ghost of relief in her words.

"Are you sure? I…Thank you. I mean, we're sort of a black hole and dragged you all into this."

"She's right." Mulan admitted. "'Rapunzel, you needed somebody you could talk to because you felt there was no one else right?"

"Yeah." Rapunzel squeaked.

Mulan could feel Anna looking at her, but there was no malice or anger. Just an odd mix of pleading and relief. Mulan continued. "Well, Anna needs someone now. She's pretty determined with seeing Elsa, and I know she won't be persuaded. It would be wise to hear her out. Hell, maybe after all is said and done, you COULD talk her out of it. Or at least a less…abrupt…approach."

Anna was about to interject but was stopped when Mulan shot her a look. "But, you need to sit down with her. There's a lot of weird shit going down and maybe closure is best." Laying a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, Mulan gave Anna a nod.

_Maybe she's right._ Rapunzel thought. "I don't know. Anna, I'll give you a lift to my place. We'll talk later."

Anna was quiet again, but there was a warmer glow in her features as group of girls hugged and departed. "You know I love you Anna. And I'm only looking out for you and making sure you don't get hurt." _Never again. _

"I know. I love you too Rapunzel."

There was a deep pause as they arrived at Rapunzel's car. "I just want my sister back.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Howdy followers! (Standard apology for slow updates.) I will put forth my best effort to ensure a bit more strict writing schedule. Can't make promises but will do everything in my ability to follow through.

*TRIGGER WARNINGS!* YAY! So, because this IS the Elsanna fandom, and we can't leave the canon trauma well enough alone and just have everything be sickening fluff and happy sister-love endings, I've added a bit more mental struggle on Anna's behalf. What does this mean for you and mentioned trigger warning? Well, I have a big love for psychological horror and thrillers, so this includes mentions of (possible) self harm and anxiety disorder with multiple personality disorder. (Yes, i'm being a little more light hearted in this warning than most, but give me a little slack, I actually had to write this out, and I use humor to lighten serous moods.)

BIG thank you to Appletopfp for the new cover image.

And especially bug thank you to my Beta GhostofWintersPast, as I REALLY appreciate all your feedback, and would be lost in the writing Aegis Sea right now.

Let the horror show begin and don't forget to leave a review!

* * *

A heavy silence filled the car. Despite whatever breakthrough the meek redhead had made just moments before, the suffocating air inside her cousin's Mercedes caused a deep recession in her mental well being. Even though she had felt lonely when she was with her friends, the constant chattering and openness of the mall had kept her relatively calm. But now, cramped inside of a small vehicle with a silence so thick and crammed with tension, she could feel the incessant buzzing in her head.

It first started when she was twelve. Elsa was fifteen and already well into her studies to prepare for the succession of their father's company. Anna herself never considered their father's enterprise to be hers and wanted nothing to do with it. While Elsa would spend hours locked in her room, no doubt drowning herself in paperwork, homework and whatever else their father demanded of her, Anna would spend her time mulling around the house or life in general. She was so lonely. And full of anger. But no one subject was able to captivate the full attention of the beast skulking her mind like an animal in its cage. One moment she would be angry at her mother for being dead. At her father for putting them into this position. Her sister. She wanted to hate her sister. Elsa had abandoned her, to work for him. So Anna felt shattered. Anger would well up only to give way to unending depression.

Her school life took a suicidal dip for the worst. She was fighting with teachers, fighting with students, or she would wind up being tormented by the peers from whom she sought refuge and an outlet. Locked in her room, she mirrored Elsa. Solitude was her only friend then, and somehow then she felt closer to her older sibling. And that's when it started.

"You can only shout so many times in a cave before your own voice is echoed back." Dr. Hale had said. Only what Anna began hearing wasn't her voice in her head. Well, it was. But twisted. Angrier. For two years, Anna had begged Elsa to come and play, only to be rejected for some 'greater good' her father drilled into her head. _**It's because of you, you know. **_Anna was terrified when she first heard it. Relentlessly, she shouted to her walls, demanding an answer for Elsa's unexplained absence and sudden disinterest in her own sister. Why she was so engrossed in this company. The blame shifted from her father to herself.

Schizophrenia was a term their doctor threw around, but Anna denied and refused it to be true. It wasn't aliens or whatever crazy people think they hear. Bi-polar was also a suggested by her Therapist. This seemed more plausible in her father's eyes. He had seen her violent mood swings for himself, often being the victim of these conflicting emotions.

One second she was crying about something a boy had said to her at school and the next a lamp was broken as she kicked an end table. An accusatory finger, heavily poised with deadly accuracy at his chest. She would shout about her mother's death being his fault and that they should just get rid of the stupid company. "Burn it to the ground and have a family picnic around its ashes!" She would cry out. But none of this would affect him. As soon as she started, she would be panting. Lungs burning and eyes stinging with regret. Apologies would fly from her mouth, laced with sorrow. And always a cumbersome buzzing left splitting her mind.

It was like she was shouting, imprisoned within herself. And only she could hear it. And to top it off, she had developed a new disorder. Autophobia. She never felt more alone, her voice the only comfort at this point and it too was an endless hug with a dagger. Comforting in its weight, but painful, the more she pressed against it. She had her cousin sometimes; Rapunzel was the only constant relief from her living nightmare. But so wrapped up in her own life and its horror—Rapunzel had been kidnapped as a baby and had only found her real parents two years prior—Anna was left to her own devices of self help. That was how she had met Merida. Merida and her mother had never gotten along, often leading to her adventuring late at night in the city. Anna had met her maybe a year or two ago. But she had enough feistiness to supplement two people.

That was Anna's escape. She was always so chipper and rambunctious because she _had _to be. It was a desperate struggle, a never-ending climb up a mountain crafted from her own insecurity.

This was a constant thing for Anna. She would become so enraptured in her thinking, the world ceased to be. Trees, cars and street signs all blurred past her. And time just disappeared. That was how Rapunzel was able to completely miss the exit to her flat and continue on the long stretch of road with no questioning from her passenger.

_**POV Switch**_

Rapunzel was wound tight. Rigid and heavy eyes wavering between the wilted beauty that was Anna and the unusual emptiness of the road. That was exactly what Anna was right now. They had only been driving for ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity with every second being stretched into infinity through a formless black hole. Small choking sounds barely escaped Rapunzel's bobbing throat as every word she wanted to use to bring up the conversation of Anna's insane plan, and hopefully talk her out of it, died as her mind began wandering. _Dammit. Just talk to her. Tell her you're there for her._ But she couldn't.

It was as if Anna's discomfort had consumed everything, every emotion becoming still and cold. Anna was curling into herself. And nothing good ever came from the darkness Anna would allow herself to succumb to in her mind.

Anna wanted to cry. She should be crying. She had made a damned fool of herself in front of all her friends. _**Pathetic. Useless**__. __**No wonder your sister left you**__. No! I didn't- __**You were holding her back. So clingy. Just like with your friends. They have to be everything for you. JUST LOOK AT YOUR DAMN COUSIN! **_She took advantage of Rapunzel's need to turn around to check for oncoming traffic before merging to chance a glance. _**How angry she must be. You and your plans.**__ She would never hate me. I know she's upset, but I just need to -__** NEED TO GET A GRIP ON FUCKING REALITY! **_

Unnoticed by her, but immediately picked up by her cousin, Anna had begun scratching at the evil red scars running across the backs of her arms.

Teeth gritting, Anna kept herself together as best as possible. It was what she was good at. Masking her insecurities behind playful banter, dropping her own self worth to make everyone else happy or make them feel good. And there were days when she would genuinely feel right about herself. The days her insecurities would leave her alone. And it was on these days Anna was as carefree as possible. She had earned her name 'Feisty Pants' from Rapunzel after her blonde cousin good heartedly chastised the girl for being so restless. Anna was always anxious to do something. Literally anything that didn't involve sitting inside all day.

Other days, however, had the nasty habit of crushing her deeply. It was one of these days that Rapunzel was currently occupied with. The almost literal crack in Anna's defenses was a constant reminder of events and haunting in the redhead's mind that Rapunzel herself would never know.

She cast a cautious glance at Anna. Her (who?) pitiful state was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes. She was usually so full of energy. So full of life. Now however, she was nothing but a piece of crumpled paper tossed into a garbage bin. Her arms folded, she was hugging herself with love made of ice. Cold and painful.

She kept claiming it was an accident. That she was chopping vegetables. That she had merely dropped the knife. Rapunzel had stood in the kitchen doorframe, horrified and fighting back tears, lest her vision blurred and she slipped on the few drops of blood that were quickly collecting on the linoleum floor. The vegetables on the counter sufficed to back her story, but her eyes were telling an entirely different story.

Vacant and unfocused. Just like they were now.

Though Anna never looked Rapunzel in the eyes, she hadn't been focused on anything in particular. As if the world around her was one large blind spot. Rapunzel knew dwelling on something that she would never know the truth about was a horrible idea, so she switched her train of thought to her last birthday. She knew there would be a shouting match awaiting her at home and needed just a bit of time to gather her wits and calm her nerves.

Her knuckles had been gripped around the steering wheel so tightly they were white and her fingers had gone completely numb. She took a deep breath and began loosening her fingers' grip.

Rapunzel almost found it comical that the one thought that had always calmed her down would become the very subject to cause her uneasiness. Elsa.

It was on her 18th birthday that she received a very frantic call from her boyfriend, Eugene. Though frantic may have been too overdramatic a word, he himself was speaking in a very fast and dramatic tone. She would ask what was wrong but his only reply would be repetitions of "Get over here now!" and "You won't believe this!" at varying fast speeds. Her car was a piece of shit and nearly broke down twice on the way to their apartment.

Being an art major was in fact not a wise college decision in this day and age. They were behind on several bills and had to share the piece of crap she never missed to this day.

Pulling into the driveway, she had noticed a flatbed truck with a yellow Mercedes on its bed. Her brows had furrowed in confusion and shrugged it off as new neighbors. This only heightened her worry of Eugene's phone call. _There was no way he would be this eccentric over new neighbors._ All her questions were answered, though more formed in their place, as he practically exploded that not only was the car theirs, but their debts were paid, her college tuition was paid off for the next two years and they had a new place all set up for them on a better side of town, where he apparently had a job waiting for him as a mechanic. When she questioned all of this, he revealed through high pitched squealing that her cousin Elsa had done all this for her. Three months later, she still never found out why.

The looming flat the three of them shared seemed to snap them out of their mentally conflicted trance. Even Anna seemed to crack a smile, as faint as it was. It faltered and receded, however, as she and Rapunzel locked eyes for the first time during their drive. Immediately, Anna began speaking. "I know you're going to want answers and-" Her rambling fountain of words was halted as Rapunzel shot out her index finger straight up and followed with a quick _shush_ sound. "I don't want to talk about it here. But yes, I want answers. Just wait until we're inside, then we can... start yelling at each other." Anna's confidence broke and her face was a beacon of impending guilt. Rapunzel had aggravation plastered over her face but as soon as she was out of the car, longing and sympathy quickly broke its resolve.

Anna was out after taking a few moments to collect herself. Rapunzel was already setting out to do housework, a not-so-bad habit of hers when she was anticipating something and was incredibly upset. She took her time, reprieving herself. There was no need to rush words or make any hasty choices. Anna knew her cousin was simply worried about her and with good reason.

But still it hurt.

Something twinged in the back of her mind that filled her with pain. To always have her motives second-guessed. To never be trusted by the one person she needed it from most.

She bit her lip.

_The second person..._

Standing straight, Anna tried her best to smile. Tried boosting her confidence with the given situation. If she was uncertain of her actions, had any reservations whatsoever, no way would Rapunzel be able to support her.

A breath and she was moving to the door.

Her hand on the doorknob, she fought through her hesitation. The building was rather large but not imposing. At least not normally. She never felt so small next to something. Six floors high with four housing apartments on each, nothing seemed so overpowering to her.

She shook her head to clear her mind.

"I'm doing this. Nobody can stop me. Nothing can stop me." She said out loud to no one. Living on the first floor was as much a blessing as a curse. Anna wouldn't have to walk up several flights of stairs as worry built up in each step. But it did, however, leave no room for error. Once she was in, Rapunzel would be upon her.

_Stop thinking of her like that. She's not mean_. Anna chastised her poor choice of phrasing. "You can do this. You were born ready." It seemed everyone in her family had their own ticks when they were nervous abut something._ Or __at least__ what little family I have left_ . The small smile was gone as sober dreariness filled her again. She knew she couldn't put it off any longer. She began biting her lip as she finally twisted the knob to its resisted _thud_ in its rotation. It too seemed louder than normal.

"I fucking hate doors." She hissed through gritting teeth. Fluorescent lighting engulfed her as she entered the frame, closing the door carefully behind her.


End file.
